sein German · revision 35426

+ {{homograph|1|his, its}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century|origins=ine-pro *se-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Germany: /zaɪ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria, Southern Germany, Switzerland: [saɛ̯n]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sein''' (masculine and neuter), '''seine''' (feminine and plural); before a noun the masculine and neuter nominative are uninflected, while the word standing alone takes the endings.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The possessive is [[inh|gmh|sīn]], [[inh|goh|sīn]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*sīn]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sīnaz|t=his own, one's own]].^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[got|𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃|tr=seins]], [[non|sinn]], [[ang|sīn]], [[ofs|sīn]] and [[osx|sīn]], and in the modern languages [[nl|zijn]] and [[sv|sin]].^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ Kluge explains it as an adjective of belonging with the suffix [[ine-pro|*-nós|alt=*-no-]], starting from a locative in [[m|ine-pro|*-nē]] of the originally enclitic pronoun stem [[m|ine-pro|*sei]], which is also found in [[hit|-ši]].^(Kluge 2011|840) Kroonen derives it from the reflexive base [[m|ine-pro|*se-]], which also gave [[sich]];^(Kroonen 2013) [[mein]] and [[dein]] are formed in the same way from the stems of the first and second person.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sīn'' “his, its” is recorded from the 8th century, in texts from the Hildebrandslied, the Benedictine Rule and the Georgslied to Notker and Otfrid;^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Schützeichel 2012|281) Schützeichel gives the phrase ''durch sīnen willon'' “for his sake”.^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Schützeichel 2012|281) Köbler counts over 4,000 instances.^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old and Middle High German the uninflected possessive was identical with the genitive of the personal pronoun.^(Paul 2002) Until Early New High German ''sein selbes'' or ''sein selbst'' meant “of himself” (Luther: ''sein selbst Werk'' “his own work”); this has been replaced by ''sein eigen''.^(Paul 2002) Colloquially the possessive also marks a considerable amount where it is not strictly needed: ''er hat seine 70 Jahre auf dem Rücken'' “he has a good seventy years behind him”, or Schiller's ''seine acht Schuh breit''.^(Paul 2002) Used predicatively, ''das Buch ist mein'' is now regional.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''sīn'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|840)

+ * 16th century – Luther writes ''sein selbst Werk'' “his own work”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1780 – Adelung records the phrase ''es hat seine Richtigkeit damit'' “that is quite in order”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Determiner===

+ # [[m|en|his]]: belonging to a male person named before.^(Wiktionary DE)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|its]]: belonging to a thing of masculine or neuter gender.^(Wiktionary DE)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|one's]] (referring to ''man'').^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(informal)'' Before a number, marking an approximate, considerable amount: ''seine 70 Jahre''.^(Wiktionary)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[seinetwegen]]

+ * [[seinesgleichen]]

+ * [[seinerseits]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|to be}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century|origins=ine-pro *h₁es-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Germany: /zaɪ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria, Southern Germany, Switzerland: [saɛ̯n]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sein''' (irregular, third-person singular present ist, past tense war, past participle gewesen, past subjunctive wäre, auxiliary sein)^(Wiktionary)

+ Wiktionary lists the older spelling ''seyn'', which the Grimms' dictionary quotes from Goethe, Schelling and Hegel.^(Wiktionary)^(DWB|16, 334)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|gmh|sīn]], [[inh|goh|sīn]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*sīn]].^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Wiktionary) In all the Germanic languages its forms come from three Indo-European roots.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ The present forms ⟨ist⟩, ⟨sind⟩, ⟨seid⟩ and the subjunctive ⟨sei⟩ go back to [[ine-pro|*h₁es-|alt=*es-|t=to be]]: [[goh|ist]], [[got|𐌹𐍃𐍄|tr=ist]] and [[ang|is]] match [[la|est]], [[grc|ἐστί|tr=estí]] and [[sa|अस्ति|tr=ásti]], and [[m|goh|sint]], [[m|got|𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳|tr=sind]] match [[m|la|sunt]] and [[m|sa|सन्ति|tr=sánti]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Kluge 2011|840) The infinitive, the present participle and the plural imperative are German new formations from this stem;^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Duden 7 2020) Kluge explains the infinitive from the 1st and 2nd person plural of the present, which originally had no root vowel and were remodelled after the 3rd person plural and the optative, whereas the other Germanic languages took their infinitive from the verb of [[Wesen]].^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Duden 7 2020) Kluge adds that an older sense is probably kept in [[m|sa|आस्ते|tr=ā́ste|t=sits]].^(Kluge 2011|840)

+

+ The 1st and 2nd person singular, Old High German [[m|goh|bim]], [[m|goh|bist]], are mixed forms: they continue [[m|ine-pro|*h₁es-]] (as in [[m|got|𐌹𐌼|tr=im]], [[en|am]] and [[m|grc|εἰμί|tr=eimí]]) with the ⟨b⟩ of the West Germanic forms from [[ine-pro|*bʰuH-|alt=*bʰeu-|t=to grow, become, be]], the root of [[m|en|be]] and [[la|fuī|t=I have been]] (see [[bauen]]).^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) In Middle High German the old forms with ⟨b⟩ other than these were replaced by forms with ⟨s⟩, as Old High German [[m|goh|birum]] “we are” by ⟨sint⟩.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The preterite ⟨war⟩, ⟨waren⟩ and the participle ⟨gewesen⟩, a Middle High German new formation, belong to the strong verb [[goh|wesan|t=to be, remain, stay]], [[got|𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽|tr=wisan]], from [[ine-pro|*h₂wes-|alt=*wes-|t=to stay, dwell]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sīn'' is recorded from the 8th century;^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Schützeichel 2012|281) Schützeichel's senses include “be, become, happen, exist, be present, stay, remain, live” and its use as an auxiliary.^(Kluge 2011|840)^(Schützeichel 2012|281) Köbler counts more than 1,750 instances and lists among the sources a runic inscription on a buckle frame from Weimar, of the first half of the 6th century.^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Pfeifer distinguishes three main uses: the verb of existence (“to be there, exist”), the copula linking the subject with a predicate (''er ist gesund'') and the auxiliary of the perfect tenses (''er ist gegangen'').^(Pfeifer 1993) The noun [[Sein]], the infinitive used as a noun, became common only in New High German; in Middle High German ''sein'' and ''wesen'' were still used alike, but in New High German ''Wesen'' came to mean the essential nature of a thing and ''Sein'' the fact or manner of its existence.^(Duden 7 2020)^(DWB|16, 334) The pair became important to the philosophers after Kant, Schelling and Hegel, and Shakespeare's line was rendered ''Seyn oder Nichtseyn, das ist hier die Frage''.^(DWB|16, 334) English borrowed the compound [[Dasein]] in 1846.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 6th century – Köbler lists a runic inscription from Weimar among the sources of ''sīn''.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''sīn'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|840)

+ * 9th century – The infinitive ''sīn'' appears beside the older ''wesan''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1846 – English borrows ''Dasein''.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|be]]: links the subject with an adjective or noun that describes or identifies it.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(impersonal, with es)'' Of time, weather and conditions: ''es ist kalt'' “it is cold”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|exist]]; to be present, be somewhere.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To belong to someone: ''das ist meins'' “that is mine”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(impersonal, with dative)'' Of a feeling: ''mir ist kalt'' “I am cold”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(auxiliary)'' Forms the perfect and pluperfect of many intransitive verbs, especially verbs of motion and change.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To have one's turn, in a game or a queue.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Sein]]

+ * [[Dasein]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Wesen]]

+ * [[sich]]

+ * [[en|is]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}